Implementing Research‐Based Instruction to Prevent Reading Problems Among Low‐Income Students: Is Earlier Better?

It is currently considered imperative to introduce reading instruction as early as possible. This proposition was tested by assigning groups of kindergarteners (N = 256) to two conditions differing in their emphasis on prevention. In the first, teacher‐implemented research‐based interventions were implemented during kindergarten and first grade. In the second, only the first‐grade intervention was implemented. Analyses were conducted separately for students not at risk, at low risk, and at high risk of reading problems. In the short term, the kindergarten intervention was highly effective for both low‐risk and high‐risk students, but it is only for the latter group that early gains translated into better reading skills at the end of first grade. Not‐at‐risk students did not benefit from the early introduction of reading instruction.     

工程教育的环境

学习的环境(Context)是关于理解并学习知识和技能的一整套文化环境。我们认为,产品、过程或者系统的生命周期——构思-设计-实施-操作(以下简称CDIO)即为工程教育的环境,而非内容。教育的背景,我们传授的技能和我们所表达的态度,都表明构思-设计-实施-操作是一个工程师在社会中的职责。这是有效实践的第一准则所反映的中心思想,该准则就是CDIO准则1。本文首先回顾了职业工程实践的环境,指出了社会发展和技术更新带来的不变和变化着的各个方面。然后,我们描述了CDIO的工程教育环境,并突出强调了与CDIO不同但同样可行的其它工程教育环境的模型。在特定环境中进行工程教育的原因是显而易见的,它效法职业实践,有助于学习技能,是应用在工程教育和高等教育中基于环境学习的理论和最好的实践。最后,本文结尾讨论了对于采取适当的环境开展工程教育、更有效地培养工程师的广泛社会需求。突出阐述了中国工程教育的发展,同时也介绍了瑞典和美国对工程教育的需求。     

Visual processing of verbal and nonverbal stimuli in adolescents with reading disabilities

This study investigated whether a group of children with reading disabilities (RD) were slower at processing visual information in general (compared to a group of children of comparable age and a group of children of comparable reading level), or whether their deficit was specific to the written word. Computerized backward masking and temporal integration tasks were used to assess the speed of visual information processing. Stimulus complexity (simple, complex) and type (verbal, nonverbal) were varied, creating a 2 x 2 matrix of stimulus conditions: simple nonverbal, complex nonverbal, simple verbal, and complex verbal. Adolescents with RD demonstrated difficulties in processing rapidly presented verbal and nonverbal visual stimuli, although the effect was magnified when they were processing verbal stimuli. Thus, the results of this study suggest that some youth with reading disabilities have visual temporal processing deficits that compound difficulties in processing verbal information during reading.     

The Education of Future Aeronautical Engineers: Conceiving, Designing, Implementing and Operating

This paper will outline answers to the two central questions regarding improving engineering education: (1) What is the full set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that engineering students should possess as they leave the university, and at what level of proficiency? (2) How can we do better at ensuring that students learn these skills? The suggested answers lie within an innovative educational framework, the CDIO (conceive–design–implement–operate) Initiative. This initiative will be described along with the needs it meets, its goals, context, vision and pedagogical foundation. The first question is answered by the CDIO Syllabus and the process for reaching stakeholder consensus on the level of proficiency that students should attain in a given program. The second question is addressed through a best practice framework, which discusses curriculum design, design-implement experiences, teaching and learning, student assessment, program evaluation and faculty competence. Examples are provided of the implementation of best practices within the CDIO program in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Reprinted with the permission from International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS) www.icas.org This paper was originally presented at ICAS 2006 Congress in Hamburg, Germany and included in the congress proceedings.     

Development and Construct Validation of the Mentor Behavior Scale

Researchers suggest that certain supportive behaviors of mentors could increase the benefits of school-based mentoring for youth. However, the literature contains few validated instruments to measure these behaviors. In our present study, we aimed to construct and validate a tool to measure the supportive behaviors of mentors participating in school-based mentoring programs. The mentor behavior scale (MBS) was developed drawing on the premises of the mentoring sociomotivational model. Two hundred and fifty-three (253) college students participating in an eight-month school-based mentoring program completed an experimental version of the MBS and different measures of the quality of the mentoring relationship at two times during the program. The questionnaire has good internal consistency coefficients and adequate factorial structure, with the exception of the factor autonomy support. Moreover, three dimensions of the MBS predict mentoring relationship quality and the perceived usefulness of the intervention. Recommendations for the use and improvement of the MSB are proposed.